The Canadian men’s gymnastics team went head to head against China’s world and Olympic champions on the weekend and came away determined to use the experience as a catalyst its bid to win a berth at the 2012 Olympics. While China’s gymnastics might was on full display in Sunday’s team event, the Canadians struggled for the most part at the historic meeting marking the first time a foreign country has been invited to compete at the Chinese national championships.

“We can’t expect to match the depth of the Chinese program but we can use this opportunity to learn from them and get the competitive edge we need to qualify a full team for the next Olympics,” said Canadian program director Jeff Thomson of Vancouver.

Jayd Lukenchuk of Saskatoon and Casey Sandy of Brampton, Ont., Canada’s top two competitors on Sunday, got the nod to compete again in the all around finals on Tuesday while Brandon O’Neill of Edmonton advanced to event finals on floor and parallel bars, Ken Ikeda of Abbotsford, B.C., on pommel horse, and Jason Scott of Richmond, B.C., on rings. Nathan Gafuik of Calgary and Jackson Payne of Edmonton, who leave on Tuesday for a World Cup competition in Moscow, rounded out the Canadian team.

“It was a great experience,” said Lukenchuk. “It was great to see how good the Chinese gymnasts are and have the chance to learn from them. I was kind of disappointed in my floor routine, but that was a mental lapse I’ll get over and correct.”

At the Beijing Olympics, China won nine gold medals and will be the team to beat again at the 2012 Games in London. It’s a different story for Canada with both the men’s and women’s teams facing a stiff challenge to earn the top-12 world ranking required to qualify full teams for the Games. With Olympic floor champion Kyle Shewfelt of Calgary leading the way, the men’s team enjoyed its greatest success ever from 2004 to 2008, reaching a top-six world ranking at its peak in 2006. But the team has had to quickly rebuild following the retirements of Shewfelt and three other members of the 2008 Olympic squad. The next step on the road to London for the Canadian team is the 2011 world championships where the top eight countries will clinch an Olympic berth. A final competition later in the year will determine the final four nations to qualify a full, seven-man team.